Scootsy raises $3.6M in pre-Series A round led by Agnus Capital, Khattar Holdings

Mumbai-based Scootsy has raised a pre-Series A funding of $3.6 million, in a round led by Agnus Capital and Khattar Holdings. Rishi Khiani, Co-founder of Scootsy, says that the current round of funding will be used primarily in expanding the online logistics startup's presence in Mumbai, and to strengthen its logistics, tech and delivery platforms. The round also saw participation from Scootsy’s incubator Antfarm.

The fund raise will also be used to add offerings like Scootsy Express, a service that will deliver food to corporate offices across the city within minutes. The team will also be launching Scootsy Pop-up, a kitchen and distribution platform that will be available with all the iconic brands across the country.

Rishi says,

“We have bootstrapped the business for the last 18 months and our focus has always been different. Our focus has been on the premium segment and profitability. Our repeat customer rate has been highest in the segment. Now that we have all the operating levers in a positive side, it felt like the right time to take capital and strengthen our positioning in Mumbai and launch our differential services.”

The funds, he believes, will help Scootsy cement its positioning in the city and help the company build a differentiator in case of any future international competition and get ready for a national expansion. However, the team isn’t looking to expand across different cities in this round of funding. Explaining how Scootsy Express will work, Rishi says,

“For Scootsy Express, we have already partnered with several MNCs and corporates, where we are the preferred partner for anything that the office needs delivered. We are getting the food within 20-25 minutes. The last mile will happen close to office; these could be brands like Candies and The Bohri Kitchen. This is for lunch time and mid-evening where people want things quicker.”

Delivery boys of Scootsy

If you have the Scootsy app, there will be a pop-up that shows Scootsy Express, for all those who have partnered with the company.

Founded in 2015, by former Burrp COO Sandeep Das and Rishi, Scootsy today delivers a broad selection of products in Mumbai, including food, fashion, books, gifts, fashion and SOS items.

However, anybody who has ventured into the delivery segment knows that the task is operations and logistics-intensive. Also, the market in India is truly fragmented. The initial challenge that the Scootsy team faced was in convincing the vendors, especially those who weren’t equipped for delivery to get on board.

“We will be looking at another fund raise in six months to a year. Our focus is on frugality and we know where exactly the capital will have to be deployed. This is why we believe that we have to have clear differentiators in Mumbai, own this city and after that move to different pockets of Delhi and Bengaluru. But those cities will happen only after a larger fund raise.”

The online food ordering business in India is still in its nascent stage, but has an exponential growth ahead. The report also stated that the organised food business in India is worth $48 billion, of which food delivery is valued at $15 billion.

Also, another platform similar to Scootsy is Bengaluru-based dunzo, a hyperlocal concierge app, which raised $650,000 from Blume Ventures and Aspada Investments in late 2015. The team then raised a follow-on round of $1.5 million from Blume and Aspada late last year. Like Scootsy, dunzo too first wants to conquer Bengaluru before it ventures into other markets.

Another international personal assistant is Prague-based DoDo. Other interesting players in the on-demand task management space include U-based Dispatch.pm and Y Combinator-backed Magic.